Homelessness consultant presents report to Sudbury city council

A homelessness consultant hired by the City of Greater Sudbury says there is no quick fix to address the city's challenges with homelessness and to deal with tent encampments which have been growing in the city.

In recent months the number of unhoused people living in tents in Sudbury has visibly increased, including in Memorial Park in the city's downtown, as well as in other areas.

On several occasions, the city has evicted people living in Memorial Park, but people subsequently set up tents in other parts of the city, and tents reappeared each time in Memorial Park again. 

The city recently hired Iain De Jong, a consultant based in Toronto who specializes in solutions to homelessness, to provide advice on how to tackle the issue. 

De Jong presented his report to city council on Tuesday evening. At the core of his report is the advice that a more coordinated approach is needed, and there are no "quick fixes." 

Untrained volunteers 'interfering' 

In his report, De Jong said a number of factors have influenced the prevalence of encampments in Sudbury, including the COVID-19 pandemic, scarcity of supportive housing, an out-of-reach rental market, demands on the current shelter system and the opioid crisis. 

De Jong noted that there are a number of volunteer groups in Sudbury that have taken it upon themselves to provide food, supplies and other services to those experiencing homelessness. De Jong cautioned that well-meaning but untrained volunteers can cause more harm than good, "greatly interfering" with efforts to provide a coordinated response. 

Mayor Brian Bigger agreed that he has seen "many people tripping over each other," duplicating their offers of help.

During Tuesday's council meeting, Coun. Deb McIntosh asked De Jong how best to "redirect" those efforts. 

"It's because we have such an incredibly caring community that people want to help," McIntosh said. 

De Jong said there are a number of ways people can help, including approaching established non-profit groups to see how they can assist, rather than doing so on their own. 

Coordinated response table

When it comes to addressing encampments, De Jong said the best way for encampments to close is for people to leave voluntarily, and that's what the city should strive for. If it does reach a point where a decision is made to enforce a closure of an encampment, De Jong said it's important to give clear advanced notice, and ensure people are offered supports. 

De Jong said the city should establish an "encampment coordinated response table" with representatives from bylaw enforcement, police, a street outreach provider, Indigenous service provider and social services. He said the table should work together to establish a list of people (with their consent) who are unhoused and in need of support, and communicate with them regularly and try to connect them with housing supports. 

De Jong said addressing the city's encampments, and homelessness more generally, is going to take time. He said perceived "quick fixes" such as establishing safe camping zones or offering tiny homes, can actually be very costly, and can take resources away from more permanent solutions. 

"I appreciate the sense of urgency, like I really do," De Jong told council.

"And I can assure you, if there was a person-centred effective approach that could provide immediate results that I've seen somewhere in the world, I would have brought it to you."